Packing means for joints



May 2, 1939. Y P. w|| s 2,156,662

PACKING MEANS FOR JOINTS Filed Dec. l, 1937 vf@ i Iglllmhl 4@3 'lumhlnh Q6 |||l|| 50 l? 1g Rg@ w Patented May 2, 1939 PACKING MEANS FOR JOINTS Percy Wills, Bridgwater, Somerset, England, assignor to Wills Pressure Filled Joint Ring Limited, Bridgwater, Somerset, England, a British Company Application December l, 1937, Serial No. 177,497 In Great Britain April 5, 1937 7 Claims.

This invention relates to packing means of the type (hereinafter referred to as the type described) having the form of gas-filled joint-washers or gaskets comprising a hollow chamber that is loaded initially with a gas under super-atmospheric pressure, such as are used for the iluidtight packing of joints of various kinds, such as those between cylinder blocks and heads in internal combustion engines. 1U The `invention has for its main object to provide an improved construction of packing means of the type described in the form of a substantially at washer which can be manufactured at a low cost, and can be conveniently handled and placed in position as and when required.

According to the invention there is provided packing means of the type described, wherein the hollow chamber is formed by two pieces of sheet material impermeable to gas held spaced apart one opposite the other by spaced endless distance pieces that are impermeable to gas and constitute peripheral walls of the chamber.

One or both of said distance pieces may be integ'ral with one of said pieces of sheet material or secured huid-tight thereto as described hereinafter.

Conveniently, one of said sheet-s is rebated to form an endless portion of reduced thickness, the second sheet of endless form is superposed on the reduced portion of the rebated sheet.' and an endless groove is formed in said reduced portion or in the overlying sheet, which groove is bounded laterally by portions constituting said distance pieces. f

In a modied construction the distance pieces may be constituted by two endless members arranged one surrounding the other with a space between them and carrying the two pieces of sheet material in superposed spaced relation. These endless members may be formed with rehates or ribs on which marginal portions of the pieces of sheet material are seated.

Such an endless member may be of T-shape in cross-section and may have marginal portions of J the pieces of sheet material seated on opposite sides of the downstroke of the T.

Several embodiments of theinvention are diagrammatically illustrated by `way of example in the accompanying drawing, wherein:`

Figure 1 is a plan view showing one form of joint-washer or gasket, according to the invention, partly broken away, for use in a multicylinder internal combustion engine,

Figure 2 is an enlarged partial cross-section taken through one of the hollow chambers in the washer, and

Figure 3 is an enlargedy cross-section taken on the linev 3 3 in Figure 1 showing the hollow chamber expanded by its gaseous filling;

Figure 4 is a plan showing a circular'joint washer or gasket according to the invention,

Figure 5 is an enlarged partial cross-section taken through the hollow chamber in the washer,

and

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross-section taken on the line 6 6 in Figure 4 showing the hollow chamber expanded by its gas lling;

Figure 7 is a cross-section showing a modification of the construction shown inv Figures 4 to 6.

Like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring rst to Figures 1 to 3, a gas-filledjoint-washer or gasket having hollow chambers for use between a cylinder block and head of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine comprises a metal sheet I0 having a plurality of ports I2 each to register with a cylinder, as well as apertures I4 for the circulation of a cooling med ium and bolt holes I6. As shown most clearly in Figure 2, the portion of the sheet I0 at each port I2 is formed with a rebate I8 to provide an endless rebated marginal portion of reduced thickness as compared with the thickness of the remainder of the sheet. In this thinner reduced portion an endless groove 20 is formed which is bounded laterally by endless portions 22, 24 thicker than the piece of' sheet material 26 which lies between them and forms the bottom of the groove 2U. Additional metal sheets 28, each having a port I2, are of endless shape andA such a size that each can be superposed on a said reduced portion of the sheet I0. Marginal portions of each of these sheets 28 are carried by the portions 22, 24, while a middle piece extends between the latter and is free therefrom. -The portions -22, 24 constitute distance pieces that space the piece of sheet material 26 away from the piece 3U constituted by the middle portion of the sheet 28. These two pieces 26 and 3U form opposed walls of a hollow chamber, whereof the distance pieces 22, 24 respectively form the outer and inner peripheral Walls thereof. 'I'he sheet 28 which is secured duid-tight, preferably by welding, to the distance pieces 22, 24, has a thickness substantially equal to the dilerence in thickness of the thicker and thinner portions of the rebated sheet I 0, so that, as shown in Figure'Z, before the chamber is lled with gas under pressure, the sheet 28 lies flush with the sheet I0.

as non-circular, circular chambers may be constructed in a similar manner.

If desired, the distance pieces 22, 24 may be formed on the smaller sheet 28 instead of on the sheet Il; also, one distance piece could be formed on each sheet, but these modied constructions are not preferred.

Referring now to Figures 4 to 6, the circular joint-.washer or gasket comprises two endless metal members 32 and 34 of circular shape, as viewed in plan, each of T section. These members are arranged one surrounding the other with a space between them in the same horizontal plane; the downstrokes of the Ts constitute lateral ribs 3i and 3l respectively, and form, respectively, the outer and inner peripheries of theL two members and are directed towards one another. The inner periphery of the member 32 denes the port 4l or the throughway `of the washer or gasket. Two pieces of sheet metal 42, 44 are secured, preferably by welding, fluidtight to the opposite sides of the two ribs 36, 38 and form with the endless members 32, 34, a closed hollow chamber in the gasket. Before being put into use, this chamber is loaded as described above with vreference to Figures 1 to 3, and when loaded it assumes the form diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 6.

In making either of the gaskets described above, any convenient metal which is sufliciently resilient to provide resilient opposed walls of the chamber may be used, such as steel, copper, aluminium, cupro-nickel and other alloys.

The endless members 36, 38 may be of the same or of a different metal as thesheets 42, 44, and may be about 2?," thick, and about Vs" wide overall, the length of the downstroke being about and the width of the cross-stroke about 11;".4 The metal sheets carried by the endless members may be about 26 gauge. These dimensions are, however, given merely by way of example, as in some cases the thickness of the endless members may be as little as lg".

As illustrated in Figure 7, a lateral rib 46 may be of dovetail shape in cross-section providing upper and lower slanting seats for marginal portions of the metal sheets, the edges of which may be spaced away from the cross-stroke of the T to provide two gaps to be filled with jointing material, as shown at 48, during the sealing operation.

The endless members 32, 34 may be fashioned in any convenient manner such as by a stamping, rolling, spinning or machining operation.

Before being taken into use, but when the gaskets are pressure filled, the metal sheets will be -bulged outwards somewhat under the high internal pressure, but when clamped in the joint to be packed, the gaskets will be compressed and the described distance pieces 22, 24, and endless members32, 34 may form spacing pieces for lim- `lting Athe degree of compression to which the gasket is subjected; In some cases, however, these distance pieces and endless members may be so weakthat they will also be compressed somewhat when making a joint. l

The gasket described above with reference to Figure 4 has a single port 43, whereof the margin is constituted by the inner periphery of the inner endless member 32, which inner periphery may be concave. When the gasket constructed, as described with reference to Figures 4 to 6, is to have a plurality of ports, one or more of which may be for the passage of gases and one or more of which may be for the passage of liquid, then a plurality of inner endless members, such as 32, may be arranged and spaced away from a larger outer endless member such as 34, that surrounds them all. In this construction, each metal sheet will have a plurality of apertures corresponding in number and size to the inner endless members with which they will be joined as described above, the outer marginal portions of the sheets being joined to the outer endless member.

The improved gasket is exceedingly eilcacious, as the walls of the gas-filled chamber yield to uneven surfaces and, at the same time, mould themselves by reason of the internal pressure until they conform with the surfaces with which they are in contact, so that high clamping pressores are unnecessary.

The invention is not restricted to the precise constructional details enumerated. For example, the pressure of the gas-filling may be only about 15 atmospheres or less in some cases.

I claim:

1. A resilient joint washer or gasket of the character described having a closed hollow chamber into which is introduced a gaseous lling material at super-atmospheric pressure before its employment for packing purposes, which hollow chamber comprises two pieces of sheet material impermeable to gas held spaced apart one opposite the other by spaced endless distance pieces that are impermeable to gas and constitute peripheral walls of the chamber, which distance pieces are both integral with one of said pieces of sheet material.

2. A resilient joint-washer or gasket of the character described having a closed hollow chamber into which is introduced a gaseous filling material at super-atmospheric pressure before its employment for packing purposes, which hollow chamber comprises two metal sheets, whereof one -is rebated to form an endless portion` of reduced thickness, and the second sheet of endless form is superposed on the reduced portion of the rebated sheet, one of which superposed parts has formed in it an endless groove which is bounded laterally by portions constituting peripheral walls of the chamber.

3. A resilient joint-washer or gasket as set forth in claim 2, wherein the groove is formed in the reduced portion of the rebated sheet.

, 4. A resilient joint-washer or gasket as set forth in claim 2, wherein the thickness of the second sheet is substantially equal to the difference in thickness `of the thick r and thinner portions of the rebated sheet.

5. A substantially flat resilient gasket having a closed hollow chamber into which is introduced a gaseous filling material at super-atmospheric pressure before its employment for packing purposes, which hollow chamber comprises two endless members impermeable to gas arranged one surrounding the other with a space between the same, and two pieces of sheet material impermeable to gas superposed in spaced relation and car ried fluid-tight by said endless members which constitute distance pieces and form peripheral walls of the closed hollow chamber.

6. A joint-washer or gasket as set forth in claim 5, wherein the endless members are formed with rebates providing ribs on which marginal portions of the pieces of sheet material are seated.

7. A resilient substantially ilat gasket comprising a body having two relatively resilient metal walls forming a continuation of the plane surfaces of the gasket, impermeable means for spacing apart the inner and outer edges of the walls, said spacing means uniting said inner and outer edges to form a sealed chamber, the chamber thus y formed within the gasket containing fluid under Apressure sufcient to normally bulge ,the resilient 5 walls outwardly.

PERCY WILLS. 

